


pack

by brandywine421



Series: Unrelated Fluffy AUs [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Animal Transformation, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 18:50:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4148964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were all paying for the consequences of their parents' sins, their world cursed by scientists that wanted to be gods.  The werewolf therapy was a fad at first, in the late 1800's; until the flu pandemic turned the therapy into a vaccine - a cure for all diseases and sickness.  The success turned it into a requirement for all newborns for the next century.</p>
<p>Things went wrong fast, after the first generation.  The werewolf DNA degraded into more dog, even down to fox shifts and they weren't determined by the genes - more by the essence of the person.  Violence became a part of daily life, but the vaccine was constantly tweaked and twisted - and abused.  It couldn't be improved because it wasn't meant for what it was being used for.</p>
<p>(AKA - shifter!verse)</p>
            </blockquote>





	pack

**Author's Note:**

> * I feel like I should explain that the fics in this 'series' are truncated and end abruptly because they are not fully finished - but they have scenes and dialogue that I ♥ so I am posting them before I move them out of my 'in progress' folder. *
> 
> This one's been languishing for a while (years!) and while I have scenes from the culminating battle, I cut this off before that because I can't knit it together. I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I do.

"A cat," Tony said, breaking the tense silence.  
  
Director Fury nodded.  
  
Bruce was the next to express his disbelief with more clarity than Tony had managed.  "Feline DNA is inviable for humans, only canine genes are compatible with humans.  They gave up on that research in the first generation trials."  
  
Fury shifted his attention to Maria Hill who glared at him but opened a folder.  "Howard Stark worked on several classified experiments in the seventies.  It's how he managed to get you some of the last Purebred vaccine," she said to Tony.  "He continued his research up until his death."  
  
"But a cat, that's impossible," Tony said, ignoring the woman's words about his father.  He accepted his father lived and died in the gray, a messy mix of good and bad intentions.  "I've been through his research - "  
  
"Not all of it.  And he wasn't directly involved in the trials that yielded the feline results," Fury picked up.  "It was an illegal operation run by a scientist Stark fired.  He recruited low income volunteers for free medical treatment and vaccinations.  The black market for vaccines has always been dangerous, but his trials had a 99% fatality rate.  But that 1% was a miracle so Stark brought the subject in for testing."  
  
"The subject meaning the _baby_ ," Natasha said slowly.  Her eyes were sharp and muscles tensed.  She rarely lost composure but she was on the edge.  
  
Tony took a shallow breath.  "Are you saying..."  
  
"He had a part in the experiments, but he also aided the child's freedom.  He used his own money to get the cat and his mother protected by the government in return for keeping their mouths shut.  They disappeared but he was never forgotten.  We have new evidence that Howard Stark was murdered by someone looking for his location.  All the lawyers and politicians associated with the project have been eliminated over the past five years," Fury said.  
  
"Jesus," Tony whispered.  
  
"What kind of cat are we talking about?" Clint asked after a long moment.  
  
Fury blinked at him.  "He's a more than a cat.  He's a shifter.  He can be any kind of cat he wants to be."  
  
"As long as he's a cat, he can kill any person with canine DNA he bites or scratches," Hill said, closing the folder.  "He should be in his early to mid-twenties by now and we need to find him before HYDRA or Asgard does."  
  
Tony couldn't process his father's involvement in human testing but even worse, he didn't trust the organization he'd been working with if they were involved in it.  He was going to find out everything - he would tear what was left of SHIELD down to find out what the hell they'd done.  
  
They were all paying for the consequences of their parents' sins, their world cursed by scientists that wanted to be gods.  The werewolf therapy was a fad at first, in the late 1800's; until the flu pandemic turned the therapy into a vaccine - a cure for all diseases and sickness.  The success turned it into a requirement for all newborns for the next century.  
  
Things went wrong fast, after the first generation.  The werewolf DNA degraded into more dog, even down to fox shifts and they weren't determined by the genes - more by the essence of the person.  Violence became a part of daily life, but the vaccine was constantly tweaked and twisted - and abused.  It couldn't be improved because it wasn't meant for what it was being used for.  
  
Tony was one of the few Purebreds left in the world, an expense his father probably regretted considering Tony's hatred for the man.  He was lucky.  He could control his shift with or without the moon and was threatening enough to intimidate any dog that came near him.  Well, apart from Bruce, but he was a genetically tainted Alpha that intimidated _everything_.  
  
Clint was a jackal, a rarity but renowned for his sneakiness and a worthy partner to Natasha's sleek fox.  
  
The four of them came together to battle the Asgardians when they raided the planet; the aliens capitalizing on the weakness of the population as wolves and hunting them like the animals they were cursed to become by their impulsive ancestors.  They managed to keep North and South America out of alien and HYDRA hands but Asia and most of Africa were lost to Asgard with Europe and the rest falling to HYDRA.  
  
It was the end of the world.  They closed the portal to Asgard, which stopped the flow of soldiers - but trapped the aliens on the planet to slowly kill off all the humans they could find.  
  
"So let's go kill ourselves a cat," Clint said.  
  
"No - that's not the mission," Fury corrected sharply.  "He's an asset, not a mark.  The few signs we've found of him over the years show a consistent pattern of...heroics."  Maria nodded and he continued.  "A white tiger liberated at least six breeder camps over the past couple of years and an orange housecat saved a pack of fifty last month from a fire.  He's not our enemy but he's not our friend yet.  I need you to make friends."  
  
Hill spoke quietly.  "He saved my team in LA recently, he has a team of his own."  
  
"Agent Hill's reported sighting is what brought this to our attention.  We didn't know any of this until a few weeks ago but considering how deep HYDRA had its claws into SHIELD, they have a major head start."  
  
Tony could get behind this plan.  He had vowed to forget about his father's mistakes but he was going to do his damned best to fix this one.  He could make friends.  Sure.

* * *

  
"Hey.  Are you okay?  You look exhausted," Jane said, crouching beside his bed.  
  
Steve was tired.  But he'd always been tired.  "Yeah, to both.  Okay and tired.  Where's Thor?"  
  
"Playing with Darcy and Skye downstairs.  He sent me to check on you.  Said last night was harsh," she said, laying her hand across his forehead.  "When's the last time you ate?"  
  
He didn't remember and she narrowed her eyes at his extended pause.  "Thor's going to be pissed.  Clean up and come down so we can eat and debrief."  
  
He nodded and swung his legs over the side of the bed.  "Any hot water left?"  
  
"You know better than that.  It's not like you'll be in there longer than five minutes," Jane snorted.  
  
Steve hated water more than everything.  "Thanks.  I'll be down."  
  
He scrubbed shampoo into his hair and lathered up with a wet sponge before forcing himself into the shower spray to wipe and rinse down.  Water sucked _so hard_.  He liked being clean, but water was his nemesis - forget HYDRA and Loki.  
  
He dried himself with a fluffy towel but exhaustion was still thick in his muscles.  
  
He took a deep breath and shifted into his default form, a white tiger.  Before he hit puberty, it was a tiger cub but he finally hit his growth spurt and his tiger was massive now.  He had to squeeze through the doorway before he could make his way to the stairs and into the living room.  
  
"There he is.  So much for debrief if he's all fluffy today," Darcy said, reaching out to scratch between his ears as he passed her on the couch.  "I'll get your blanket so you can get warm."  
  
He purred his thanks and padded over to Thor and propped his head on his knee.  
  
"Captain, you are weary.  You must allow yourself time to rest," Thor said, brushing his rough hands through his fur.  
  
Darcy draped a huge blanket over his back and Skye approached with a bowl of stew that tickled his nose.  His stomach growled and Thor tsk'ed at him.  
  
He went to work on the bowl immediately, not caring about the girls' snickers as he lapped at the stew.  He took his time when he was done to clean his paws before bundling up in the blanket and shifting back to human form.  He pulled on sweats and a shirt before unfolding the blanket to greet his family.  
  
"There you are.  Jane was right, you look like hell," Skye said.  
  
"Thanks, Skye," he smiled.  "You look nice today, too.  Where's May?"  
  
"The Valiant Melinda is on patrol in search of any strays from yesterday's raid," Thor replied.  "She will return when the sun is high."  
  
"Good," he said.  His team, his pack for lack of a better explanation, was a good team.  It had taken years of traveling to get a crew this seamless and he was grateful every day for them.  
  
Skye and Melinda were refugees of SHIELD, the government agency that fell when the HYDRA spies flooded the country like rats.  They didn't trust anyone but when they were hurt taking down HYDRA operatives, Steve took them in and they'd been loyal ever since.  Melinda was a silky black wolf and Skye was a terrier of some kind, vaccinated in the underground and hired by SHIELD for her street smarts.  
  
Thor was Asgardian, the rightful King and he'd explained Loki's madness and the fact that the invaders were a mix of Frost Giants and Chitauri, not true Asgardians.  His homeland and his people were enslaved with Thor banished to a world he didn't belong to.  Jane and Darcy were under his protection after _not_ killing him when they saw that his shift was a lion.  
  
He was the only other cat shifter that Steve had ever met and they had vowed to fight in each other's wars until death.  
  
"So?  How did it go yesterday?  I mean, we heard what Thor said, but you were out all night," Skye asked as she put his dishes away.  
  
Steve shrugged.  "I was tired.  I spent most of it out of shift."  
  
Jane and Darcy frowned at him but Skye nodded.  "It's too dangerous for him to be seen in public in feline form, he's already on HYDRA and Loki's radar from LA."  
  
"The nest was successfully destroyed and Steven is safe.  We have sanctuary here," Thor said.  
  
"I agree, we should stay here for a few days, regain our senses before we hit the road again."  
  
"And rest," Skye said, eyeing him.  Melinda and Skye didn't coddle him in public, but they treated him like a mate.  They staked their claim when they'd been with him for over a year, circling and waiting until they won him over.  No one smelled the cat on him through their mark.  They were immune to his feline poison after the years of lovemaking and lovebites.  
  
He wondered sometimes if his mom was disappointed in him having two girlfriends but he genuinely loved them both.  He needed them.  He was a cat but they were his mates despite their species.  His mom was probably disappointed in him for everything else, he knew she would have loved both his ladies.  
  
He tilted his head and Skye smirked, moving to his side and kissing his cheek.  "Rest, babe.  We'll be here when you wake up.  I want to hear you purr and my toes are cold."  
  
He turned to kiss her on the mouth before shifting out of the clothes and waiting patiently for her to fold and put them aside before climbing onto the couch in tiger form and curling up across her lap.  Darcy settled under his legs and Jane set up the Monopoly game on the coffee table.  Skye stroked his fur absently and he purred until his eyes slid closed.  
  
Safe.  Warm.  He would just rest his eyes for a while.

* * *

  
  
"Reports say a dangerous pack was run out of Detroit two days ago.  There was no SHIELD or local militia involvement but a private, unknown crew.  The witnesses keep giving conflicting stories and nothing was caught on camera.  A lion and a man.  It's a good lead," Hill said over the comm.  
  
"We're setting up camp now, Maria, we'll be in touch," Clint said, flicking off the communicator as Natasha finished mapping the scent markers in the motel.  
  
"It's safe enough.  Militia's got the place marked up but there are a lot of packs mixed in.  I think this place gets a lot of travelers," she said.  
  
"It is a motel," Clint muttered.  "What do you think?"  
  
"About the motel or the cat?" she replied.  
  
He frowned at her.  
  
"I think it's a wild goose chase.  I don't get why Fury thinks this is major enough to require our attention.  We should be in Paris hunting down the source of HYDRA and getting our allies back.  And our mark's never been sighted as a lion."  
  
"Then maybe we should be looking at the guy with him," Tony announced, wrinkling his nose as he stepped into their room.  "And I still don't get why we can't stay in a real hotel."  
  
"This is Detroit, there's no such thing," Clint said.  "And what do you mean about looking for the guy?"  
  
Tony passed over his tablet with several sketches of a tall blond man and a massive lion watching his back.  "They tranq'ed the bastards, the cat rounded them up and the guy picked them off one by one.  Left them for SHIELD to clean up."  
  
"Like a cat leaving dead mice on the doorstep," Natasha said.  
  
"You really don't like cats, do you?" Tony asked.  
  
She growled.  "No.  They're dangerous."  
  
Clint shrugged.  Cats didn't attack unless they were threatened but they were some of the only wildlife left that the wolves hadn't wiped out.  Cats were better survivalists than the humans that were considered the benchmark for intelligence.  "We don't have any proof that he's a killer, he used tranqs."  
  
"I gave my word we'd bring it in, but I won't hesitate to take it down," she said.  
  
He glanced at her sharply.  "He's a man, 'Tash."  
  
Tony nodded.  "Yeah, you should take it down a notch.  I want to talk to this kid and find out what my dad did to him."  
  
Natasha sighed, deflating slightly.  "I don't like cats.  But I'm not compromised."  
  
Clint saw a flash of black from the corner of his eye but Natasha and Tony didn't notice.  He knew that black.  
  
_Melinda_.  No one had seen her since SHIELD imploded.  But she was too smart to die easily.  
  
She was a loss.  He didn't think Fury ever fully got over losing her pack.  
  
"I'm going to get the rest of the gear, try not to brawl until I get back," Clint said.  Natasha and Tony flipped him off in unison.  
  
He walked over to the reinforced car and sat down on the bumper to scan the parking lot.  The moon was a couple of days out but most SHIELD agents learned to control their transformation before they were recruited.  
  
The dark wolf watched him from the shadow of the ice machine and darted out of view as soon as he spotted her.  
  
He'd never forgive himself if he didn't follow her.  
  
"Who sent you?" the familiar voice asked when he stepped into the dark alley.  
  
"Melinda.  Fuck, where have you been?  Fury - "  
  
"Fury's dead."  
  
"I can call him right now, we can get you out of here - "  
  
"No," she said sharply.  "What are you doing here?  What are you hunting?"  
  
She didn't smell like Melinda.  She smelled strange.  Fuck.  He might as well lay his cards out.  "Cats."  
  
"Cats."  
  
"I think you know what I mean.  You smell like cat.  Not a lion.  A tiger.  We'd like to talk to him," Clint said.  
  
He saw the flash of her eyes.  "Never."  She was wolf again in a blink and brushed past him into the streets faster than he could track.  
  
Fuck.  If the cat had Melinda on his team, if she had his scent on her - this suddenly got a lot more complicated.

* * *

  
  
"Barton?  Are you sure?" Skye demanded.  
  
Jane and Darcy had gone out for supplies with Thor playing human sentry and she had enjoyed a lazy afternoon of naked time with Steve alone in the house.  
  
"Who's Barton?  SHIELD?" Steve asked immediately, his blue eyes going dark as he smelled her panic.  
  
"He was one of Fury's most trusted field agents.  He was a good man.  I don't think he's HYDRA," Melinda said.  
  
Steve turned to her.  "What about you?"  
  
Skye remembered Clint.  "He was cocky, but he was good.  I trusted him."  
  
"What do they want with me?"  
      
"He said they wanted to talk.  I trust Barton, but I don't trust anyone with you.  Especially not SHIELD," Melinda said.  
  
Steve reached out and ran his fingers up her arm until she settled into bed and he could tug her under the covers.  Close.  He kissed her cheek.  "I can handle myself."  
  
"You aren't going near those guys without us.  Why would they even want him?  How do they know about him?" Skye demanded.  
  
"LA," Steve answered.  He was curled around Melinda but absently strumming his fingers through Skye's hair, incapable of giving them unequal attention.  Skye loved Melinda, she had bonded to the woman as a probie; but Steve brought them a balance, a harmony, that nothing could match.  
  
This is how she wanted to spend the end of the world.  _Loved_.  She wasn't giving this up.  
  
"That's what I'm thinking.  He mentioned a lion and a tiger so they're definitely on our trail."  
  
"I've been sloppy," Steve hissed.  
  
"I was hoping we could have a couple more days' rest before we had to run," Melinda murmured.  
  
"What if we didn't run?  Maybe I should talk to them.  Open up communications," Steve said.  
  
"No," Skye and Melinda said together.  
  
His blue eyes flicked between them.  "You both worked for them, you've said they saved your lives.  What if they weren't all rotten?  I trust the two of you.  We could use more people to trust."  
  
"Did you forget what they did to you?  Everything your mother said?" Melinda growled at him.  
  
Skye kissed his shoulder when he visibly bristled.  "Easy, Kitten."  
  
"I haven't forgotten, Melinda, but I'm aware that things are different now.  I can't take down HYDRA on my own any more than Thor can take down his brother.  If we can get at least one brand of hunters off my trail, it'll make it easier to spot the other two," Steve said.  
  
"Hey," Skye whispered.  "We'll never let them get you."  
  
He rolled his eyes, humoring her.  She met Melinda's eyes that shared her resolve.  He might think they're just saying the words but they mean it.  She'll die before she lets those aliens or scientist freaks get hold of him.  SHIELD was her life once, but Steve's more than that.  
  
"If you want to talk to them, you'll let us call the shots.  If Nick Fury's alive, he's the only one I'll approve a meeting with," Melinda said.  
  
Steve hummed into her hair and trailed his fingers down Skye's neck.  "We'll talk it over with Thor tonight.  I want to do some surveillance."  
  
Skye wasn't letting him go anywhere on his own if SHIELD was sniffing around.

* * *

  
  
Tony was tired of listening to Natasha and Clint bicker through the wall.  He wished Bruce had tagged in but they needed him back in the lab.  Bruce was for emergencies only and this wasn't an emergency.  Yet.  
  
He settled on the patio overlooking the freeway sparsely lined with cars for the public still rich enough to afford gas and too lazy to run in shift.  Cities weren't as populated as the rural areas where the people who decided to embrace the wolf over their humanity, where they'd given up on civilization and become animals.  
  
Tony would always be a city boy, a spoiled millionaire - not a wolf.  
  
" _Meow_."  
  
He jerked when the sound hit his ears.  He hadn't smelled a cat and he definitely hadn't heard any alerts.  But a smoky bluish-gray cat was perched on the bench across the pool.  He forgot the mission for a panicked moment.  
  
"Oh.  A cat.  Lovely.  Shoo, pussycat..."  
  
The thing hissed, flattening his ears and baring his teeth.  
  
Tony could squash the thing if he was in shift.  He wasn't scared.  "Fine, stay, see if I care.  I'm just enjoying the view.  Didn't expect the wildlife."  He would wait it out.  
  
They were here for the cat anyway.  He forced himself to stay still, to fight the instinct to growl and snap at the feline.  
  
The cat approached warily with bright, calculating eyes.  He stayed low with his tail raised and fluffed as he stalked the short distance to crouch at Tony's feet.  
  
"Mew."  
  
"I don't speak cat."  
  
" _Mew_."  
  
Tony blinked at the cat.  Before he had a chance to speak again the thing darted under his seat and swiped at his pocket with sharp claws.  His wallet flopped to the concrete and the cat ripped the fabric to shreds until his ID and credit cards were revealed.  
  
"Mew?"  
  
"Tony Stark, that's me.  And you owe me a wallet, kitty cat," he said.  
  
The cat batted at the ID for a moment before backing away with a solemn hiss.  
  
Damage control, he was on it.  "I think your mom knew my father.  I don't know what part he played in what was done to you, but I promise that I'm not like him.  I'm into tech, communications and weapons when necessary - not genetics and never human experimentation.  I work with SHIELD because they have the most resources for me to help take our planet back."  
  
The cat hesitated.  
  
"There are people after you," he said.  
  
"Meow."  
  
Tony huffed.  "I guess you knew that."  
  
The cat sat down on the bench again.  "Mew."  
  
"I'd like to talk to you in English at some point."  
  
The cat flicked his tail toward the remnants of his wallet.  "Oh.  You got my number?"  
  
"Mew."  
  
When he glanced up again the cat was gone without a sound.  "You're a weirdo!" he called into the street.  
  
"Talking to yourself again, Stark?  Get in here so we can discuss recon for the moon," Clint said from the window.

* * *

  
  
"You're an ignorant asshole," Melinda accused when Steve settled down over dinner.  
  
"I know," Steve replied absently.  "But you didn't know Stark was here or that SHIELD sent their lead team to Detroit to find me."  
  
"He's a purebred, he could have eaten you alive," Skye growled.  
   
"His father saved my life."  
  
"His father made you what you are," Melinda said.  
  
Steve shrugged.  "I would have died without the vaccine but I would've died if he hadn't gotten me out.  I know why you don't want to get involved with SHIELD, and running is our default reaction but I think - we're going to need help getting to Melbourne and someone needs to know the truth about the Asgardians."  
  
"And we need to get to Arizona to try and get Thor's hammer again.  We're going to need it to reopen the portal and put those assholes back on their own planet and free the real Asgardians.  They'll fight for Thor, for their freedom," Jane said quietly.  
  
"You're being quiet, Thor," Steve said.  
  
Skye sighed and started carefully checking Steve for injuries and grooming him like a good mate.  Melinda rolled her eyes but they all had their animalistic quirks and it was much better than Steve and Thor's instinctive distraction by all things shiny.  
  
"I wish to meet with these men if they can offer assistance, but I do not wish to risk the safety and subterfuge we have achieved thus far," Thor said finally.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Darcy asked.  
  
"We can't trust them until we learn more about their motives.  But I think we have to check," Steve said.  "I have Stark's number.  I think we should make contact, arrange a meeting.  You want that Fury guy here, maybe they can make that happen."  
  
Melinda sighed and plucked a spot of lint off Steve's shoulder, smirking when Skye glared at her.  "Fine."  
  
"We'll pack up, have all our exits ready in case it goes bad," Steve said.  "Skye, you can stay with Darcy and Thor to watch the perimeter and secure our exits and Melinda and Jane can come with me to the meeting."  
  
Thor hesitated but nodded decisively.  "My beloved is more qualified to make the decision to appeal for help if necessary."  
  
"I'll make the call.  I want you to stay in shift when we talk to them, until we're sure," Melinda said.  "If they don't know what you look like as a man, we should keep it that way as long as possible."  
  
"Tomorrow's the moon, we aren't doing it today, are we?" Darcy asked.  
  
"It'll be the best way to judge their motives, see how good their control is around a cat," Steve nodded.  "We don't usually run on moon nights but we'll do what we have to if this goes sideways."

* * *

  
  
"Melinda would know how to hide her trail.  We've had BOLO's out for her since her pack went down, she didn't want to be found," Fury said, glancing around the open space warily.  "Goddammit, I hope you're right, Barton."  
  
"I know Melinda, and I spoke to her.  She's spooked.  I want to know what went down that would spook her that much," Clint replied.  
  
"It's been years and a lot of things have changed.  Can you really blame her for not coming back to SHIELD when so many of the higher ranks were HYDRA?" Fury replied.  
  
"I blame her for throwing her support behind a cat," Natasha said darkly.  
  
"Meow."  
  
Their attention snapped to the edge of the motel's back lot where the small gray housecat Tony had described sat on the curb flicking his tail and watching Natasha with flattened ears.  
  
She growled instinctively but quickly swallowed it when Fury and Clint both glared at her in warning.  
  
Melinda stepped out in familiar black uniform without the SHIELD emblems.  "If I'd known Natasha was along for the hunt, we wouldn't be here.  You keep your hands, and your darts, away from my Alpha."  
  
"Mew," the cat replied, rolling his eyes.  Fury gasped despite himself as the tiny cat shifted suddenly and grew into a tiger as tall as Melinda on his feet.  "Mowr."  
  
"Better," Melinda said before her gaze met Fury's.  "Thought you were dead."  
  
Fury scanned her.  She looked intact.  Healthy.  "Likewise.  It's damned good to see you, May.  Where the fuck have you been?  We needed you."  
  
She frowned but stroked her deadly fingers through the tiger's fur absently.  "Lost my team, actually, my superiors slaughtered my team.  Ripped their throats out in front of me.  There was no one left that wasn't HYDRA.  You ask me where I've been?  Where the fuck were you?"  
  
A dog started to yip and Fury sighed when Tony climbed out of one of the decoy cars nearby with a beagle nipping at his heels and herding him into the line.  The dog settled beside the tiger.  
  
"You know I suck at surveillance," Tony muttered.  
  
"Why are you here, Fury?" Melinda asked him.  "What do you want with Cap?"  
  
"I want him on our team.  I want him under SHIELD's umbrella, not trapped by Asgard or cut open by HYDRA," Fury replied.  "He's not a threat, he's an asset and we want to discuss a partnership to take down our mutual enemies."  
  
Melinda glanced over at the tiger.  "What do you think?"  
  
"Mrow," the tiger replied.  
  
"Give me one reason to trust you," Melinda said after a beat.  
  
"Maria's in charge of Canada.  Phil's running South America and Mexico," Fury stated.  Her eyes flashed at the mention of Phil but she only nodded.  
  
She nodded her chin at them.  "Cap's going to check you.  If you're clean, we can talk somewhere off the streets."  
  
The tiger rumbled out a half-growl, half-purr.  Melinda flicked her eyes back to them.  "If you can help us get to Loki, we'll help you take down HYDRA."  
  
"Who's Loki?" Tony asked.  
  
"The imposter King of Asgard.  He's running things from Melbourne and we haven't found a reliable route to get us there," Melinda said.  
  
The tiger padded over to them on massive paws and Fury forced down his wolf and spread his arms for the cat to sniff and bat at his pockets.  He held his breath when he slit the cuffs of his pants and sliced off the holsters hiding his knives and guns.  The claws were sharp but precise, not even grazing the skin as he worked.  
  
"I think you need to get him a scratching post," Tony muttered.  
  
"If you don't want him to strip you right here, you should probably lay your weapons down," Melinda said when Fury's pants were shredded from the knee down.  
  
The cat paced in front of them as they disarmed but he stopped in front of Natasha and sat down.  He flattened his ears and stared her down.  
  
She frowned but pulled her belt off and tossed it into the pile.  
  
The tiger bared his fangs and hissed.  
  
Natasha pulled a clip of syringes from her inseam and dropped them.  "That's all."  
  
The tiger snuffed in distaste and moved to sit beside the beagle again.  
  
"You're lucky he trusts my judgment," Melinda said.  
  
"Melinda.  Do we pass inspection now?  I need to hear everything you know about the Asgardians if that's your next play," Fury replied.  
  
"Is your friend going to be able to get along with Natasha?" Barton asked.  
  
The tiger was licking his paw indifferently.  Melinda nodded.  "It's not him you should be worried about."

* * *

  
  
"When HYDRA made their play, we were infiltrating what we thought was a chemical lab working on biological weapons for AIM.  HYDRA wanted the weapons, they'd been using us to raid their allies to save money.  We figured it out when our team turned on us.  Barely made it out of the warehouse alive and everything had already gone to hell.  Between the riots and the Chitauri..." Melinda started.  
  
Steve settled on the table in his gray tomcat shift and flicked his tail as he watched their possible new backup stare at them.  
  
"What's a Chitauri?" Tony asked.  
  
"Who's 'we'?" Natasha followed up.  
  
Melinda glanced down at him.  "I know we have a deal about staying in shift but - "  
  
"Mew."  He flicked his gaze to Jane by the door.  They needed to stick to the plan and Skye was on patrol while Thor and Darcy waited at their exits.  Thor was a lion, he wasn't always the best choice to walk a perimeter.  
  
"Go on, Melinda," Fury said as Jane ducked into the bathroom of the motel room rented for the meeting.  
  
"We didn't have an exit strategy.  We didn't know who we could trust because the agents that came to our alleged rescue were HYDRA.  I would have died if Cap hadn't taken us in.  Me and Skye," she said.  
  
Natasha and Clint both shuddered in surprise.  "She's alive?"  
  
"Mew," Steve replied.  
  
Melinda snorted.  "Cap rescued us.  I will never come back to SHIELD but I believe in my Captain.  We're going to bring down HYDRA and Loki if it's the last thing we do."  
  
"Okay, back up to this Chitauri and Loki stuff - are they the Asgardians?" Tony held up his hand to pause the conversation.  
  
Melinda motioned to Jane who stepped out in misfitting clothes with a small wave.  "This is Jane, she knows everything about the Asgardians."  
  
Jane nodded.  "Everyone's wrong about what's happening.  My boyfriend is the rightful ruler of Asgard.  He's the only true  Asgardian on Earth, the aliens here are from other galaxies .  Loki, their leader, he was raised as the King's but adopted as an infant.  He's a Frost Giant with the power to glamour himself into any form.  He has enslaved Asgard's people and recruited the alien race of the Chitauri with the Frost Giants to conquer Earth."  
  
The room was silent and Steve wondered if the info-dump was too much.  
  
"Meow?" He batted at Melinda's arm until her eyes focused again.  
  
"If we can capture Loki and break his spells, bind him," Jane continued after a beat.  "Then Asgard will be freed from the enchantment and they'll come to finish off the Frost Giants and the Chitauri.  They'll come for their King."  
  
"Yeah, so, I don't understand or believe any of that," Clint said.  
  
Tony seemed thoughtful.  "The Asgardians are definitely two different breeds.  Electricity and ice requiring different defense.  You don't have any magicians on the new SHIELD payroll, do you?"  
  
Melinda glanced at him and he rumbled a reassuring purr.  "Who's running SHIELD, Nick?"  
  
Fury blinked at her.  "Me, Maria and Phil.  We've got recruits and allies with the militias, but it's more of a mishmash of ex-soldiers and cops, anyone who isn't an animal, a traitor or an Asgardian."  
  
"Well, we have a cat and an Asgardian.  So I'm not sure it's a good fit," Jane said.  "If you can get us to Melbourne, we won't even need you to fix this."  
  
" _Mew_."  
  
"Until you can talk, buddy, keep your comments to yourself," Clint snickered.  
  
"Jane Foster.  You're an astrophysicist," Tony said suddenly.  Jane beamed before she remembered why they were here.  
  
"Yeah.  I was when that was a thing.  I didn't believe in aliens until an Asgardian fell into my backyard.  It's a long story, but it's true.  Cap saved us, too," Jane said.  
  
Natasha was watching him with unwavering eyes.  He sat up and held her gaze.  He wouldn't hiss.  He was a nice cat.  
  
"I'll rip your throat out if you touch him," Melinda said suddenly.  
  
Jane shrugged, breaking the tension.  "I've seen her do it.  Whatever SHIELD teaches their agents about Mates is serious business."  
  
"Cap's the only reason we agreed to this meeting," Melinda said as Natasha looked at him with renewed curiosity and less distaste.  
  
"I think we need to know everything you do about the Asgardians, all flavors," Tony said.  
  
"And I'm looking forward to meeting your Captain," Natasha added.  
  
Steve huffed and didn't even feel bad for letting Melinda take the lead on that eventual confrontation.  Throat-ripping aside.

* * *

  
  
"Well, that explains that," Natasha said from the window.  
  
Jane looked away from the tablet where she had been showing Tony her reports before the end of the world, the proof of Asgard, and the preliminary research of the portals that provided their transport and eventual invasion.  
  
She saw human Steve walking with one of the militia soldiers.  They shook hands before the man shifted into a medium sized wolf.  Steve gathered the man's clothes and tucked them away before making his way to knock on their door.  
  
"Why doesn't he smell like cat?" Clint asked.  
  
Melinda tore her eyes away from the spread of papers in front of her with Fury as Clint let him in.  "He's mated, we make sure his scent's covered."  Jane's not sure about her friend's sudden focus on SHIELD's skeleton agency but they needed the backup.  
  
Steve stepped in with a friendly smile and Jane relaxed.  "Hey, Cap.  Everything cool?"  
  
"Buttoned down.  I called in a favor with Tod and he's going to keep his eyes open.  Your backup teams are sloppy, militia's been trailing them all day and they weren't sure if they needed to approach," Steve said.  
  
"We cleared it with the local head," Fury said.  
  
"There are at least six patrols from the border militias.  It's one of the reasons we settled here so long," Steve said.  
  
Melinda motioned him over and stood up so he would sit.  She promptly sat down on his lap.  
  
"Wow, she's serious about staking her claim," Tony said.  
  
"Cap's special.  She and Skye worked on him for months to get him locked in.  Cats are loners, but Cap's all pack.  He takes care of us like his kits.  Well, Thor does, too, but he's still catching on to Earth rules.  Shifting is only for those with magic in Asgard but when he was exiled here but his true father, it was a gift," Jane said.  
  
"But he's a lion, so it wasn't necessarily the gift he needed," Steve said.  
  
"We believe you," Natasha stated.  "I apologize for my reaction."  
  
Steve nodded solemnly.  "I won't hold it against you.  I've known Ferals before, people trained in wild cat territories."  
  
Natasha's face flashed with horror for a split second.  
  
"We busted up a HYDRA training camp in Oregon.  There were a lot of young kids up there, they were terrified of me," Steve said.  "You remind me of Bucky."  
  
"Barnes?" Clint perked up.  
  
Steve shrugged.  "We didn't do last names.  He was scouting the camp solo before we turned up.  He helped us bust up a few more, he had good Intel."  
  
"He was in deep cover, high security.  We lost track of him in the cleanup," Natasha said quietly.  
  
"He checks in with Cap twice a month.  He never told me he was SHIELD," Melinda replied.  
  
"Deep cover, definitely too deep.  We thought he was lost," Fury said, avoiding her eyes.  
  
Jane smiled, remembering Bucky and Skye battling over Steve while Melinda snatched him up during the distraction.  She had never been sure if Steve was aware it was happening at all but Bucky threw his best game at Steve to get him into bed.  
  
"You really think your boyfriend can take down Asgard's bigwig?" Tony asked her, having moved ahead through her research while she was distracted.  
  
She clicked open a slideshow from her files.  "Cap, you want to run down the bullet points of Loki?  Plug this in to the big screen," she said when Cap nodded.  
  
"Thor, Skye and Darcy will be over around dusk," Steve said.  
  
"Melinda, Skye, Barnes, shit.  You've been working on our side already without even knowing it," Clint muttered.  
  
Cap shrugged.  "There's only one side that matters.  HYDRA wants to turn us all into animals and Loki wants to turn us into slaves.  I've been doing my best to help and think small but finding Thor and his girls, getting Intel from Bucky, Rhodes and Wilson; things got a lot bigger."  
  
"Full stop.  Rhodes?" Tony held up his hands.  
  
"Air Force pilot, he's working out of Kansas.  Wilson's one of his, working out of Alabama to cover the Gulf.  Rhodes runs a major cell across the Midwest.  He's not a fan of SHIELD," Steve shrugged.  
  
"He's alive?  Are you - can you call him right now?" Tony demanded.  
  
"Twice a month.  We're hoping he's got us some transport," Melinda said.  "A friend?"  
  
"Best friend.  I thought he was dead," Tony whispered.  
  
"If we can get a plan together, we'll put out the word and have a meeting," Steve said.  "I doubt they'll come for SHIELD, but they'll come for me."  
  
Clint took over and hooked up the tablet so the screen filled with the first picture of Loki.  
  
"That's Loki, Thor's adopted brother but...Thor says he went mad.  He made a deal with the Frost Giants from Jotunheim," Cap said as the next picture filled the screen.  "Asgard has access to 9 realms, basically, 9 planets or galaxies in different parts of space.  Jane knows how that all works.  But Loki is a Frost Giant by birth.  He used their magic to kidnap and impersonate the King of Asgard, Thor's father and take over their kingdom."  
  
"Space politics, wow," Tony said after a beat when the picture switched from the circular graphic and back to Loki and the two different species of aliens.  
  
"Loki made another deal with the Chitauri from another of the 9 realms and together with the Frost Giants - they invaded Earth.  Thor, our Thor, is the only free Asgardian on our planet right now.  The bad guys are Asgard's enemies as much as ours," Steve said.  
  
Jane pointed at the screen on the next picture at Sif, standing stoically at Loki's side with the glowing pendant around her neck.  "That's the Lady Sif, who Loki's declared his queen.  She's Thor's best friend, and ex-girlfriend but that's not the point - she's Loki's captive."  
  
Steve reached over and motioned to the eyes of the people flanking Loki on the stage.  "See how their eyes are hazy?  That means they're being controlled, under a spell.  Sif's eyes are clear.  He wants her to see everything that he's doing.  He wants her to be fully aware of his power."  
  
"He wants her to choose to stand by him, to choose him over Thor.  He's been obsessed with her long before he went completely nuts," Jane explained.  
  
"Thor can communicate with Asgard, to a point.  He has friends in the rebellion on their planet and if we can take out Loki, they can put the Frost Giants and the Chitauri back to their homes and finish their battle on their own turf.  Then we can focus on HYDRA without any alien armies in the mix," Steve said.  
  
"If you can get us to Melbourne, we can do it," Jane agreed.  
  
"Why do you think you can take down an entire army with your sparse pack?" Barton asked.  
  
Steve smiled.  "Because Thor knows how to break the spells."  
  
Jane nodded.  "We didn't notice it until a couple of months after the portals were locked, but his soldiers, the Chitauri and the Frost Giants, all show signs of being enchanted.  They didn't sign on to be trapped here.  Australia's hot as hell and the Frost Giants are miserable.  They wouldn't choose Earth to conquer, we don't have anything they want.  And Sif - Thor says she's badass."  
  
"What do you think, Fury?" Barton asked.  
  
"I want in," Natasha said suddenly.  "If Melinda and Barnes vouch for you, I want in."  
  
"I trust that they're not HYDRA and they have a tangible, if improbable, plan to take Asgard out of the fight and I'm willing to throw what support I can into their plan," Fury said.  "Captain, this isn't what I expected when I sent my team to talk to you, but for the first time in a long time, it feels like we might have a chance."  
  
Steve nodded and Jane let herself believe more than she'd been pretending to.  They needed help.

* * *

  
  
"You don't go out with the moon?" Tony asked when he was alone with Cap after their marathon meeting.  The rest of his team, and Steve's, had gone out to shift in an impromptu pack.  
  
"I'm a cat," Steve said absently, flipping another page of Fury's binder.  "Ma said the original vaccines, in the very beginning, came from werewolves.  Then people figured out how to make more with any kind of canine DNA.  The scientists that made me created a unique serum, they tried with all kinds of animals."  
  
"All the subjects died but you," Tony said.  His father was one of those scientists.  
  
Steve hummed assent.  "Yeah.  They never figured out why.  I was a sick kid on a ton of meds before they gave me the injection.  They took a lot of blood, well as much as they could from an infant without killing me; but they couldn't replicate the results.  Your father, no matter what side he was on at the time, saved my life.  So as much as I detest labs and syringes and that part of SHIELD - the only other part I knew about was your dad and he didn't seem so bad.  Not that I remember him, but my Mom talked about him a lot."  
  
Tony huffed.  "I don't know about all that.  Now that he's dead, I'm finding out a lot of his secrets and they're usually not flattering."  
  
"I think he was aware, but I don't think he was directly involved in the experiments if that matters.  I haven't really thought about it in a while, you know, end of the world and all that.  None of you have tried to lock me in a box yet so we can table that until we win at least one of the wars," Steve suggested.  
  
"How can you shift into all cats?" Tony asked, trying to focus on science instead of personal history.  
  
"Allegedly, felines have innate magic.  Thor says he can scent it in my blood," Steve said.  "It's how they've survived when the humans have whittled down the rest of the wildlife."  
  
"They're a wolf's biggest weakness," Tony said.  
  
Steve nodded.  "But we don't attack for kicks, only if we're threatened.  Why aren't you running with the moon?"  
  
Tony waved him off.  "I'm a city wolf, I change on my own schedule, preferably with a heated pool and a security gate nearby.  So, you can take down, basically, any person in the world with a bite or a scratch - you're invincible, but you've got to have an Achilles Heel."  
  
"Why would I tell you?" Steve snorted.  
  
"So we can make sure you're protected," Tony replied seriously.  
  
Steve shrugged.  "I don't really have one that I know of.  I heal faster than most people, don't get sick.  But I have to shift more often than everyone else.  Ma used to say I need three hours of cat-time for one hour of Steve-time, but it has a lot to do with how much I eat and how much sleep I get.  Since I've been on the run for most of my juvenile and adult life; I spend most of my time in human shift so having a team behind me is a godsend.  When I'm fighting wolves, I'm usually pretty good, but I've got nothing on Loki's turf."  
  
Tony smiled.  "You guys just work on the magic, I'm working on the tech.  The Chitauri use voltage and the other guys use ice.  So I'm thinking EMP's and nanites."  
  
Steve blinked at him.  "Okay to the EMP's, but what do nanites have to do with it?"  
  
"One, they're reusable and two, they're heated.  The EMP blast releases the nanites following the initial wave of energy - after the electric ones go down and the nanites are the only tech still functional.  They'll spray over whatever's left and melt the skin, or whatever the Frost Giants have for flesh.  Anything human or in shift, will feel something like sunburn, like fleas.  
  
Steve frowned.  "I don't know about that.  Have you tested it?"  
  
Tony hedged.  "Not so much yet, but science... _science_."

* * *

  
"Melinda?  Skye?  You both know I love you very much and I'm not a cheater, right?" Steve said.  
  
"Yeah, why?" Skye hesitated.  
  
Steve grinned widely and shifted into a dark jaguar and darted through the door.  There was a muted oof followed by playful growling.  
  
Clint huffed in recognition.  "He really got Barnes.  Fucker grows on you, I guess."  
  
"Bucky wanted to bang him," Darcy chirped from her corner.  "It was a whole thing."  
  
Skye and Melinda rolled their eyes at their friend.  
  
"I want to hear this," Natasha smiled.  
  
"Cap's ours.  He was ours when he carried us out of that gutter and nursed us back to health.  Bucky was too late," Melinda said darkly.  
  
Darcy snickered.  "Cap still had his v-card at the time, I'm telling you, it was a whole thing.  Steve's oblivious to flirting and all of Melinda and Skye's attempts went right over his head.  Bucky, though, he had a secret weapon to catch Steve's attention."  
  
Melinda growled but Natasha and Clint encouraged Darcy to continue.  Skye swatted at her but they were both counting down the time Steve had been gone.  
  
"So Skye went feral like the territorial bitch she is," Darcy smirked, "And started challenging him and Melinda made her move on Cap while he worried about why his friends were fighting."  
  
"I wasn't in on the plan, but it worked," Skye admitted.  
  
"Back up, what was Barnes' secret weapon?" Clint asked.  
  
Barnes, a massive gray wolf with metal front paw walked into the room with Steve nipping at his wagging tail.  
  
"Cats like shiny things," Natasha smiled knowingly.


End file.
